Martin Bakole is set to be rewarded for his sensational summer knockout of Jared Anderson by fighting on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II, according to his promoter Ben Shalom.
“Hopefully we have a big fight to announce in December,” Boxxer’s Shalom told BoxingScene. “I hope on the undercard of the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on December 21.
When asked if the opponent was Zhilei Zhang, who stopped Deontay Wilder in June, Shalom wouldn’t reveal further details.
“I don’t want to say too much,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. It’s been a whirlwind for Martin. We’ve had to be so patient. To me, he’s the most feared man in the division. He’s a guy that no one wants to fight.
“Riyadh Season has made impossible fights possible. Thank God the fight against Anderson happened. It was a statement win on a big platform. We knew what was coming, but he announced himself to the world that night. I believe he can beat everyone in the division.”
Congo’s Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs), 31 years old, fought for the first time in the United States in August and stopped Anderson during a one-sided demolition, knocking down the then-undefeated American heavyweight prospect three times en route to a fifth-round technical knockout win.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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